NEWS SUMMARY

The United States said it would reconvene the negotiations on Jan. 19 to avoid losing the momentum built up in the eight days of talks that ended yesterday. The decision by the United States, which is acting as mediator, reflected an upbeat sense that some progress had been made. A1

About 100,000 Israelis packed a plaza in Tel Aviv to protest a withdrawal from the Golan Heights that would be a likely component of a peace deal with Syria. A6

Russia Resumes Grozny Battle

Russian forces battled to restore control behind their front lines after surprise attacks by Chechen rebels. The Russian defense minister announced that he was lifting the suspension of air and artillery attacks on Grozny, the Chechen capital, to resume a full-scale offensive, and imposed an evening curfew on the entire rebellious republic. A8

Putin Names New Deputy

Russia's acting president, Vladimir V. Putin, selected an experienced debt negotiator, Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, 42, as top deputy prime minister and shunted aside two high- ranking officials, Pavel P. Borodin and Nikolai Y. Aksyonenko, who were closely linked with former President Boris N. Yeltsin. The moves further put Mr. Putin's own stamp on the Kremlin administration and signaled the importance he attaches to Russia's relations with its Western creditors. A8

Commercial truck owners blockaded highways and border crossings throughout France, protesting the rising cost of gasoline and the shorter workweek that the government has imposed on businesses with more than 20 employees. The protest caused huge traffic jams and left thousands of truckers from other European countries fuming at the side of the road. A4

The first detailed public images of a secretive North Korean missile base, taken by a private spy satellite, show a small rural site. Analysts disagreed over whether the site was a danger. A8

Gore Promises Disease Money

Vice President Al Gore, presiding over an unusual Security Council session called to debate the AIDS crisis in Africa, said the United States would add $150 million to next year's budget to help combat that and other infectious diseases in the poorest countries. The pledge of more money is subject to approval by Congress. A3

Ecuadorean Opposed on Dollar

A decision by President of Ecuador Jamil Mahuad to try to solve an economic crisis by adopting the United States dollar as the country's new currency brought stepped-up calls from opposition groups for his ouster. The groups contended that the move would lead to widespread impoverishment. A4

World Briefing A10

NATIONAL A12-23

New Paper May Reduce Risk of Cigarette Fires

Philip Morris is expected to announce today that it has developed a new type of paper that may reduce fires started by cigarettes. Company officials said initial tests showed that cigarettes using the new paper did not taste any different, did not burn differently when puffed and that the paper did not present added health risks. The company plans to test the paper in its Merit brand. Government data shows that in 1997, the last year available, about 900 people, including 140 children, died in cigarette-related fires. A20

Judge Acts Against I.N.S.

A Florida judge granted temporary custody to relatives of Elian Gonzalez in Miami until a guardianship hearing in March. The judge acted despite a ruling by immigration authorities that the 6-year-old refugee be returned to his father in Cuba this week. An I.N.S. spokesman said the agency would not comment until it reviewed the judge's order. A12

Fighting Crime in Cyberspace

Computer security experts said they were trying to track a computer extortionist who demanded $100,000 from an Internet music retailer last month and then, when his threat was rejected, began posting stolen credit card numbers on the Internet. In a speech at Stanford, Attorney General Janet Reno proposed a new national crime-fighting network, to be called Lawnet, to deal with the ''dark side'' of the Internet. A20

Health Coverage for Children

Enrollment in a new health insurance program for children doubled last year, to nearly two million, and President Clinton will propose a $2.7 billion initiative to sign up more children, officials said. Enrollment is still far short of the five million children Mr. Clinton set as a goal when he signed the bill in 1997, and Census Bureau surveys show that the number of children without health insurance increased to 11 million in 1998, the last year available. A16

A complaint filed with the Justice Department by a group of South Carolina voters accused their state's Republican Party of deliberately closing polling places in black areas in the last two presidential primaries, and asked federal officials to prevent a recurrence in next month's primary. The party's executive director denied that race played a role in determining which precincts would have their usual polling places open. A12

Bradley Faults Gore Priorities

Bill Bradley opened a new line of attack against Vice President Al Gore, asserting that Mr. Gore had misplaced his priorities by proposing to raise military spending more than spending on education. A22

McCain to Offer Fiscal Plan

Senator John McCain is expected to offer a detailed plan today for using the projected budget surpluses, proposing a middle-class tax cut and a program to shore up Social Security individual investment accounts. A23

You are already subscribed to this email.

Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye said she would appoint a special investigator to look into whether judges favor lawyers with strong political party ties in making lucrative court assignments throughout the state. B1

'Green' Building Incentives

Governor Pataki plans to propose a tax break today for builders who construct or renovate buildings in ways that cut pollution, waste, energy use and indoor air contamination. B3

New Tactic Against Sex Shops

The Giuliani administration has issued a regulation that would let the city shut down video stores where pornographic titles make up a vast majority of sales. Civil libertarians and lawyers for sex shops predicted that state courts would strike down the new approach. B3

On Schools and Gay Marriage

Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested that Mayor Giuliani's struggles with top schools officials had undermined public education in New York City. She also said she supported full domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples, but that she opposed gay marriage. B8

NEEDIEST CASES B4

SPORTS D1-8

SCIENCE TIMES F1-14

Findings of Laser Investigation

Dr. Victor H. Reis, a former assistant secretary of energy and the principal architect of the $4.5 billion program to ensure the safety and reliability of nuclear stockpiles, bears responsibility for cost overruns and scheduling delays for a colossal laser in California, a panel concluded. A20

Gene-Mapping Project

The Celera Corporation of Rockville, Md., said it was about to begin the final stage of its project to decode the human genome. F3

America Online, the company that brought the Internet to the masses, has agreed to buy the largest traditional media company, Time Warner, for $165 billion. It would be the biggest merger in history and the best evidence yet that old and new media are converging. Stephen M. Case, 41, the chairman and chief executive of America Online, will be chairman of the new company. A1

The merger would create a colossus that could force competitors, like Walt Disney, AT&T and Microsoft, to reconsider their strategies. C1